Paris Marathon Report
by Fraser Turner
April 7, 2002
Paris France

Simon with prize recruit Fraser Turner in Glasgow. Fraser is aiming for a 3 hour finish in The Paris Marathon in April.

Thought i should tell you about the fabulous trip the Glasgow University Hares & Hounds had to Paris last week !

The marathon was a fantastic experience and something we all learned alot about. The conditions on race day (Sunday 7th April) were exceptional ! It was very sunny, not too warm and with lots of support lining the streets of Paris to encourage all of the 35,000 + runners.

The course layout was beautiful, running along the banks of the River Seine and stretching through two large parks within the city. Most memorably we started down the Champs - Elysees and finished coming down Avenue Foch. I can`t stress enough how much we were impressed by the organisation of the Paris marathon - it was very slick, and made the event all the more enjoyable. It was also extremely helpful wearing Glasgow University vests - lots of people shouted out encouraging words of support which meant alot in the last five miles !

Its fair to describe the marathon as a 'rollercoaster' of emotions. I couldn`t help but notice the reactions of people once they had finished - many were crying tears of joy, others hugged, some were just eager to get a badly needed massage ! For my part, i was slightly disappointed with my time as I lost quite a few minutes in the last few miles after hitting the physical wall !

We`re all eager for our next challenge, but would definitely love to run again in Paris next year and take along some extra runners ! We all performed extremely well. Here are the times of the five Glasgow Unviersity runners.

[1] Cameron Burt (position 1737) (3:04:21)
[2] Myself, Fraser Turner (position 4155) (3:20:51)
[3] Tony McCue (position 5810) (3:28:58)
[4] Chris Dickson (position 8918) (3:45:40)
[5] Richard Dobson (position 13179) (3:59:39)

Rock Steady welcomes Fraser Turner into the Wanderers during a ceremony in Glasgow in February.

Last, but not least, i`d like to invite members of the Wissahickon Wanderers to take part in our annual road race in November 2002. The event is scheduled to take place on the second saturday of November - Saturday 9th November. It would be fantastic to have guest runners from another club around the world taking part and adding further enthusiasm and fun to our race. We also have a post - race party on the Saturday evening where everyone is able to share their experiences from the day.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes, Fraser Turner, Glasgow University
Hares & Hounds and Wissahickon Wanderers

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